Bone marrow

[KeenCook]

This month's Delicious "Be a better cook" article is on risotto. Among the other ingredients, it lists 40g of bone marrow.

Those of you who have used it, do you think it makes a difference?

And wasn't bone marrow a no-no during mad cow disease? Or am I imagining it. I presume it is safe now, or wouldn't be included in recipes.

I see that Waitrose sells it. As I've never looked for it, I have no idea how common it is!

[Stokey Sue]

BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) aka mad cow disease is transmitted in central nervous system (CNS) tissue, brain and spinal cord mainly - so the soft white core of vertebrae (neck of lamb, chops etc) as well as brain. Actual bone marrow is not CNS but I think anything that could be confused with CNS tissue or easily cross contaminated was proscribed during the BSE outbreak.

Fergus Henderson (St John) has however been selling bone marrow as a delicacy for some years now which is probably why Waitrose stock it

I like it, I don't usually buy it specially but if I get soup bones I save any marrow that is included, don't think I'd buy it specially for a risotto but I think it would be nice as an alternative to butter or cream for enriching it

As an aside can the BBC pronunciation department explain to presenters that vertebra (singular) and vertebrae (plural) are said differently?

[KeenCook]

Sue

[miss mouse]

And wasn't bone marrow a no-no during mad cow disease? Or am I imagining it. I presume it is safe now, or wouldn't be included in recipes.

Here is a good (IMO) R4 documentary, repetitive in parts, all episodes are in the link I think

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0glvxc3

I too mistrust it. UK food standards have collapsed.

[Badger's Mate]

I’m afraid I took full advantage of the BSE issue, when minced beef could be bought extremely cheaply at one stage. That might have been unwise but CJD was always quite rare, the price drop being due to sudden unpopularity rather than any other reason. I used to buy lamb’s brain too but they seemed to disappear about the same time. It had been possible to buy frozen packs from NZ in supermarkets, again the knock-on of bad publicity made them (even) less popular, though they were neither bovine nor British.

As Sue has mentioned, the roast bone marrow with parsley salad has been a constant at St John for years, and brain burgers are fairly regular.

Bone marrow had gone the way of dripping, being unfashionable fat that was shunned by the oleophobic who would happily eat corned beef, cheese, cakes & biscuits. This was compounded by a sudden scare around a genuine problem, making some products much less freely available. The recent trendiness seems something of a readjustment.

[Earthmaiden]

Can't listen to the documentary right now. Just wondering if the items such as brains are still off limits? Unsurprisingly, they're not in Sainsbury's and you'd probably have to find a very good butcher due to the unpopularity. I used to love brains, we even cooked them in school cookery classes and no-one thought it odd.

[Pepper Pig]

There is a fab coffee and wine shop in Kings Langley that do occasional Tapas and other themed nights. Their next one leads me to think they have a connection with St John.

https://www.dallingandco.com/upcoming-w ... reek-feast

I was too late to book.

[Stokey Sue]

It seems lambs and calves brains are on sale, my only caveat is that this piece is undated
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/brain#:~:tex ... 0calves%20(cows,is%20banned%20in%20the%20UK

Not keen on brains, the wrong kind of richness for my taste rather than squeamishness

[Suffs]

Ma always said she weaned me onto brains … back then they were considered ideal for the purpose
I’ve always loved brains on toast but I’ve not had any for a good while.

[Earthmaiden]

Looks rather good, PP!

Thanks Sue, by the by, I didn't realise that oxtail was classed as offal. Was it always so?

[Stokey Sue]

Looks rather good, PP!

Thanks Sue, by the by, I didn't realise that oxtail was classed as offal. Was it always so?

I think so - all the trimmings when the carcase is broken down, tail, trotters, ears etc as well as organs

I only recently realised why oxtail soup is a thing, rather than beef or beef bone soup, my butcher sells the chunky ends by th weight for stewing, but the thin ends in neat bundles, rather like asparagus, for making soup

[miss mouse]

Bone marrow had gone the way of dripping, being unfashionable fat that was shunned by the oleophobic who would happily eat corned beef, cheese, cakes & biscuits. This was compounded by a sudden scare around a genuine problem, making some products much less freely available. The recent trendiness seems something of a readjustment.

Wasn't that Big Food who managed to promote eg carcinogenic Flora instead of butter, lard, dripping etc? Backed up by Big Pharma peddling their rubbish?

There are supposed to be torrential rainstorms here, they are needed, where are they?

[Uschi]

Ma always said she weaned me onto brains … back then they were considered ideal for the purpose
I’ve always loved brains on toast but I’ve not had any for a good while.

When I cook soup with shin of beef, I always scoop out the marrow and have that on toast with salt and pepper. My East German relatives use it to make tiny bone for soups.